No. 11 Tiger Men's Basketball launches their 2024-2025 season.
 
Last Season
 
The Tigers had a remarkable season during 2023-2024, posting a 23-4 (14-2 SCAC) record and claiming a SCAC Regular Season title. The squad hooped their way to a 15-game winning streak to start the season and only lost two games during regular season play. Unfortunately, the Tigers were narrowly defeated in the SCAC Tournament semifinals by Colorado College and then lost to UT-Dallas in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs. Head Coach Jimmy Smith was named SCAC Coach of the Year as well as NABC District Coach of the Year. Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) earned first team All-SCAC, All-Freshman team, and SCAC Freshman of the Year honors. Green was also named First Team NABC All-District, D3hoops.com First Team All-Region, D3hoops.com Regional Rookie of the Year, and D3hoops.com National Rookie of the Year. 
 
This Season
 
Coach Smith will return for his fifth season at the helm for the Tigers and assistant coach Sterling Holmes will also be back for his fifth season. Green, as well as All-SCAC selection Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) will return for this season. Other starters from last season including Braxton Barry (Houston, Texas / Westbury Christian) and Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) will also look to have a big impact throughout the year . Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) and Zach Fenn (Covington, Louisiana / Saint Paul's) will be in the backcourt ready to make some noise again both offensively and defensively. 
 
2024-2025 Schedule
 
The Tigers will kick off their 2024-2025 season on the road, facing Bethany Lutheran (WI) on November 8. The following day, they will play Pacific (OR). Later in the month, the team will travel to California for games against Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on November 29 and 30. After an away game against Hardin-Simmons on December 10, the Tigers will finally have their first home games, hosting Illinois College and Wisconsin Lutheran on December 20 and 21. Trinity will then face Schreiner on December 31 and begin the new year with a game against Rochester (NY) on January 4. The Tigers will kick off their SCAC schedule with matches against Schreiner on January 6 and McMurry on January 10. They will conclude their regular season with games against St. Thomas and Colorado College on February 21 and 23.
 
SCAC Preseason Poll - Tigers Picked First
 
In an exclusive vote by the league's head coaches, Trinity was chosen as the preseason favorite to win the 2024-25 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball title. The defending regular-season champions, Trinity received nine first-place votes and topped the poll with 118 points. St. Thomas was picked to finish second, earning two first-place votes and a total of 109 points. Colorado College placed third with 97 points, while Centenary, with one first-place vote and 91 points, was selected to finish fourth. Schreiner was projected to finish fifth with 79 points.
 
D3Hoops.Com Preseason National Poll - Tigers at 11
 
In the national poll by D3hoops.com, the Tigers earned their highest preseason ranking ever at 11th. Their previous best was a 13th-place preseason ranking in the 2003-2004 season. Trine currently holds the top spot in the poll, followed by UW-Platteville in second. John Carroll, WashU, and Christopher Newport complete the top five.
 
Preview - Season Opener
 
The Tigers will bounce their way to Colorado Springs, Colorado to play against Bethany Lutheran on Friday, November 8th at 5:30 PM (MT). Pacific (OR) will be next in line to play Trinity on Saturday, November 9th at 1:00 PM (MT). 
 
On the Bethany Lutheran Vikings:  The Vikings finished the 2023-2024 season with an impressive 24-4 record, including a perfect 14-0 in UMAC play. After a 3-2 start, Bethany Lutheran went on a dominant 21-1 run, with their only loss coming against the University of Saint Joseph. The Vikings claimed the UMAC Tournament Championship with a 77-58 victory over UW-Superior but were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs by UW-Platteville. Nationally, BLU ranked 11th in blocks per game and 6th in defensive rebounds per game. They will return their top scorer, Drew Sagedahl, who averaged 16.4 points per game last season. However, they lost two of their other top scorers. This will mark the first-ever meeting between the Vikings and the Tigers.
 
On the Pacific Boxers: Pacific finished last season with a 15-11 record (9-8 NWC). The Boxers had an inconsistent season, with their longest winning streak being just four games. They also faced two Texas teams and Colorado College last year. Pacific lost to ETBU 84-72 but bounced back with a 92-86 win over LeTourneau. Earlier in the season, they had a close 79-77 loss to Colorado College. The last, and only, previous matchup between Pacific and Trinity was in 2011, when the Tigers defeated the Boxers 70-50.
 
Looking Ahead
 
Trinity will play against UW-Superior on November 23rd in Houston, Texas.